Spool holder for roll film cameras

ABSTRACT

A spool holder for holding a roll film supply spool and take-up spool, the holder with the spools mounted therein being insertable in or removable from an appropriate camera body constructed to receive it, or a detachable back section or cassette section of a camera body. The holder contains driving keys and mounting pins or stub shafts for both spools, the driving keys being at diagonally opposite corners of the holder. Thus the holder may be inserted in the camera body in either one of two positions, rotated 180* with respect to each other about the optical axis. When the film on the supply spool has been used up, the former supply spool now becomes the take-up spool when the holder is inserted in the camera in a position turned 180* from its former position, thus avoiding the customary step of removing the empty supply spool and re-inserting it in the camera in the take-up position.

United States at Prochnow 1 1 SPOOL HOLDER FUR ROLL FILM CAMERAS [75]Inventor: Claus Pr0chnow,Braunschweig,

Germany [73] Assignee: Rollei-Werke Franke & l-leidecke,

Braunschweig, Germany 221 Filed: Apr. 14, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 244,099

Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner-E. M. BeroAttorney-Charles Shepard [57] ABSTRACT A spool holder for holding a rollfilm supply spool and take-up spool, the holder with the spools mountedtherein being insertable in or removable from an appropriate camera bodyconstructed to receive it, or a detachable back section or cassettesection of a camera body. The holder contains driving keys and mountingpins or stub shafts for both spools, the driving keys being atdiagonally opposite corners of the holder. Thus the holder may beinserted in the camera body in either one of two positions, rotated 180with respect to each other about the optical axis. When the film on thesupply spool has been used up, the former supply spool now becomes thetake-up spool when the holder is inserted in the camera in a positionturned 180 from its former position, thus avoiding the customary step ofremoving the empty supply spool and re-inserting it in the camera in thetake-up position.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures snmaurz PM i; h I LU BEEP.

, l SPOOL HOLDER IFOR ROLL IF ILMI CAMERAS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn a conventional roll film camera, the film from a supply spool isdrawn past the exposure area in the focal plane of the camera and thenis wound up on a take-up spool. When the film on the supply spool is allused up and has been entirely wound onto the take-up spool, the take-upspool is then removed from the camera (the sensitive film beingprotected by the usual opaque paper backing or at least an opaque paperleader strip) in order to be processed. The former supply spool, nowempty, is removed from its mounting pins or stub shafts, and isre-inserted in the camera body in place of the take-up spool which hasbeen removed, so that the former supply spool now becomes the take-upspool for the next film to be exposed. This transfer of the spool fromone location to a different location in the camera is tedious andtime-consuming.

In some cameras, the spools are not mounted directly in the camera bodyitself, but are mounted in a separate back section or cassette. However,the same operation of transferring the empty supply spool to a newlocation to constitute the take-up spool for the next film, is stillrequired. There are, of course, other types of cameras 'in which thefilm, withdrawn from a small light-tight SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention provides a small frame or holder which carries the twospools (supply spool and take-up spool) and which is so constructed thatit can be very quickly inserted into or removed from the cam- .era body(or from a detachable back section of the camera body) while the spoolsare in place in the holder or frame. Moreover, the holder can beinserted in the camera in either one'of two positions reversed end forend with respect to each other; that is, rotated 180 about the opticalaxis. Each spool location has a driving key for engaging the end of thespool to drive it, and an associated gear to be driven by a gear in thecamera body when the spool is in the take-up position, the other spool(in the supply position) being free to rotate. When a fresh film is onone of the spools, with the end of the leader stripor backing paperthreaded through the usual diametrical slot in the other spool, thespool holder is to be inserted in the camera in such position oforientation that the gear on the driving key cooperating with thetake-up spool meshes with the driving gear in the camera body. Operationof the camera will then feed the film onto the take-up spool, untilfinally the supply spool is empty. The entire spool holder or frame isthen removed from the camera as a unit, with the two spools stillmounted on it, but with all of the film, now fully exposed, wound ontothe takeup spool, the original supply spool being now empty. The take-upspool is then removed from the holder or frame, so that the exposed filmmay be processed. A

new roll of film is inserted into the holder, in the position from whichthe take-up spool was removed, and the end of the protective paper isthreaded through the diametrical slot in the other spool. The holder isthen inserted in the camera in the opposite position of orientation;that is, turned about the optical axis, with respect to the formerposition. Thus the driving gear on the driving key of the other spoolnow meshes with the driving gear in the camera, so that the spool thatwas previously the supply spool now becomes the take-up spool for thenext film.

In this way, changes of film can be made much more rapidly than with theconventional construction, since it is necessary to take out only thefull spool of exposed film, and insert another full spool of unexposedfilm, without having to handle the empty spool to shift it from oneposition to another. Moreover, the invention has the further advantagethat the user of the camera may have a supply of several of these spoolholders or frames, all previously loaded with fresh film. Then when onefilm has been completely exposed, it is the work of but a moment to takeout the spool holder and lay it aside, and immediately insert in thecamera another duplicate spool holder already loaded with film, so thatthe change from a fully exposed film to a fresh film is possible in avery few seconds.

The spool holder may be in the form of a rather open frame, merelyhaving the necessary structural parts to hold the two spools, and beingintended to be protected from light by other camera parts such as ahinged back door or cover on the camera, after the holder is inserted inthe camera. Or, on the other hand, the spool holder may have an opaqueback wall which itself constitutes the back wall of the camera when theholder is mounted thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of aspool holder or frame according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view, with parts in section, of a secondembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary rear view of the same.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the holder or frame indicatedin general at l is provided, at diagonally opposite corners, with filmspool keys 2 and 3 rotatably mounted and connected to spur gears 4 and5, respectively. The keys 2 and 3 are of the conventional kind to fit aslot in the end of a film spool, to form a rotary driving connectionwith the film spool. Either the gear 4 or the gear 5 (depending uponwhich way the holder is oriented) is designed to mesh with a drivinggear in the camera body, when the holder is properly inserted in thebody (or in a detachable back or cassette for use with a camera body).

The film spool pins 6 and 7, axially opposite the respective keys 2 and3, are carried by one end of spring strips 8 and 9, respectively, theopposite end of each spring strip being riveted, welded, or otherwisesecured to the side wall of the holder 1. Thus by flexing the free endof the spring strip outwardly (axially with respect to its associatedspool 10 or 11, respectively) a spool may be inserted in or removed fromthe holder.

Guide rollers 12 and 13 engaging the front of the film and associatedrollers 14 and 15 engaging the rear face of the film,-s'erve to guidethe film 16 in a plane which, when the holder is inserted in the camera,corresponds to the focal plane or film gate of the camera. A pressureplate 17 may be provided behind the film at the exposure area or filmgate location, if desired.

Assuming that the spool 10 is empty and is to constitute the take-upspool during exposure of the next film, a new unexposed roll of filmwill be inserted in the location 11. The strip of protective paper isdrawn between the rollers 13, 15, and the rollers 12-14, and is threadedthrough the usual diametrical slot in the takeup spool 10. The frame canthen be carried separately from the camera until an exposed film has tobe removed and replaced. The frame is then inserted in the camera inplaceof the similar frame removed from the camera, taking care to turnthe inserted frame to such position of orientation that the gear 4associated with the take-up spool, rather than the gear 5 associatedwith the full spool, will mesh with the driving gear of the filmadvancement mechanism in the camera body.

When a holder or frame containing a fully exposed film has been removedfrom the camera the film will have been unwound from the supply spooland will be wound up on the take-up spool. It is then only necessary toextract the spool containing the exposedfilm, after which the holder isimmediately available to receive a new unexposed spool of film, and thespool which has previously served as the supply spool can now be usedasthe take-up spool, inserting the holder or carrier in the camera in aposition reversed end for end with respect to the position it previouslyoccupied in the camera.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the invention, in whichthespools are situated behind the exposure area or film gate area, ratherthan at the ends of the exposure area, as in the first embodiment. Inthis second embodiment, the holder is shown in general at 2 1, and thewinding keys 23 are rotatable as before on the side walls of the holder,and are connected to their respective spur gears 25. The bearing pins orstub shafts 27 are mounted as before on leaf springs 28 which may beflexed outwardly to withdraw the pins axially for insertion or removalof spools 30 and 31.

The guide rollers 32, 33, 34, and 35 are situated on both sides of theexposure area or film gate area, so that the film is free between themand can be pressed onto the aperture frame of the image area or gate bya pressure plate'37 which is resiliently mounted for movement relativetothe holder frame in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the filmin the image area.

As the holder orcarrier is made so that it may be inserted in the camera(or into a camera cassette) in two different-positions of orientation180 from each other, there is some risk that it might be insertedincorrectly, in a position where the film winding gear in the camerameshes with the gear of the supply spool rather than the gear of thetake-up spool. This risk is slight, but to eliminate it all together,the construction may include a feeler bar or sensor in the vicinity ofthe supply spool, the larger diameter of this supply spool (as comparedwith the smaller initial diameter of the take-up spool),

holding the feeler bar in a position which will not obstruct insertionof the holder in the proper position of orientation, but would obstructinsertion in the reverse position.

What is claimed is: I

1. A spool holder for roll film cameras, attachable to and removable asa unit from a camera of the type having a film advance gear, said holdercomprising a frame, means on said frame for removably mounting two filmspools for rotation relative to said frame, two spool keys rotatablymounted on said frame for driving engagement with the respective spools,and two coupling elements, one operatively connected to each spool keyto drive such spool key, one coupling element being positioned to engageand be driven by a film advance gear of a camera while the spool holderis attached to the camera in a first position of orientation, the othercoupling element being positioned to engage and be driven by the samefilm advance gear of the camera while the spool holder is attached tothe camera in a reversed second position of orientation turned withrespect to said first position of orientation,

2. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein one of said coupling elementsis adjacent one lateral edge of said frame and the other couplingelement is adjacent the opposite lateral edge of said frame.

3. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said couplingelements is a spur gear, one or the other of such gears being arranged:to mesh with a film advance gear in the camera when said spool holder isapplied to the camera in one or the other of its two operativepositions.

4. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for mounting saidspools includes two pins, one at the opposite end of each spool from itsrespective key, each of said pins being resiliently mounted to yieldaxially away from its spool to enable insertion and removal of a spoolbetween a key and its respective pin.

5. A holder as defined in claim 1, further including film guide rollers(12-15 or 32-35) for guiding film in an image plane.

6. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said two spools (10, 11) arelocated substantially at opposite ends of the holder frame, beyond thelimits of an image area in which exposure is effected.

7. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said two spools (30, 31) arelocated behind an image area in which exposure is effected, in partiallyoverlapping relation to such image area.

8. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said film guide rollersinclude film guide rollers (32, 34 and 33,

35) at opposite ends of an image area in which expo-.

sure is effected, and wherein the distance between the axes of the filmguide rollers at opposite ends of said image area is greater than thedistance between the axes of the two film spools.

9. A holder as defined in claim 8, wherein said holder is equipped withits own resiliently mounted film pressure plate (37) mounted formovement relative to the holder frame in a direction perpendicular tothe plane of the film in the image area.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,780,535 Dated December 25, 1973 n 3 Inventor) Jlaus lrochnow It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet, in the heading insert -.--(:3( Foreign PriorityData: Germany April 27, 1971 P 21 20 h88.6

Signed and sealed this 30th day oi April l97Lp.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDITIARD M.FL11ITGZIER,JR. V C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents Form po-wsq (10-69) Patent No. 3,780,535 DatedDecember 25, 1973 n D In t Jlauo l I'OChnOw It is certified that errorappears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet, in the heading insert -'.--(:3Q] Foreign PriorityData: Germany April 27, 1971 P 21 20 1 88.6

Signed and sealed this 30th deg oi April 197M.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MELETLHEEJR. C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents ORM PO-IOSO (10-69)

1. A spool holder for roll film cameras, attachable to and removable as a unit from a camera of the type having a film advance gear, said holder comprising a frame, means on said frame for removably mounting twO film spools for rotation relative to said frame, two spool keys rotatably mounted on said frame for driving engagement with the respective spools, and two coupling elements, one operatively connected to each spool key to drive such spool key, one coupling element being positioned to engage and be driven by a film advance gear of a camera while the spool holder is attached to the camera in a first position of orientation, the other coupling element being positioned to engage and be driven by the same film advance gear of the camera while the spool holder is attached to the camera in a reversed second position of orientation turned 180* with respect to said first position of orientation.
 2. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein one of said coupling elements is adjacent one lateral edge of said frame and the other coupling element is adjacent the opposite lateral edge of said frame.
 3. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said coupling elements is a spur gear, one or the other of such gears being arranged to mesh with a film advance gear in the camera when said spool holder is applied to the camera in one or the other of its two operative positions.
 4. A holder as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for mounting said spools includes two pins, one at the opposite end of each spool from its respective key, each of said pins being resiliently mounted to yield axially away from its spool to enable insertion and removal of a spool between a key and its respective pin.
 5. A holder as defined in claim 1, further including film guide rollers (12-15 or 32-35) for guiding film in an image plane.
 6. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said two spools (10, 11) are located substantially at opposite ends of the holder frame, beyond the limits of an image area in which exposure is effected.
 7. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said two spools (30, 31) are located behind an image area in which exposure is effected, in partially overlapping relation to such image area.
 8. A holder as defined in claim 5, wherein said film guide rollers include film guide rollers (32, 34 and 33, 35) at opposite ends of an image area in which exposure is effected, and wherein the distance between the axes of the film guide rollers at opposite ends of said image area is greater than the distance between the axes of the two film spools.
 9. A holder as defined in claim 8, wherein said holder is equipped with its own resiliently mounted film pressure plate (37) mounted for movement relative to the holder frame in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the film in the image area. 